As well as our popular gallery, Colonnade House also comprises of 10 studio spaces – all of whom work in different areas of the creative industries.
We had a chat with studio member Glenn Phur during his current exhibition here to delve deep into his creative passion and discover why he decided to rent a studio and hold an exhibition with us at Colonnade House.
Glenn is a professional artist, with over forty years of experience specialising in portraiture through oil and acrylic paint. With his own website, he handles commissions and sells his own artwork and a wide range of paintings designed specifically to fit anywhere in the comfort of your home.
He is currently hosting a two-week exhibition with us at Colonnade, both showcasing what he’s worked on throughout his profession and hosting a pop up shop to sell a wide range of prints, miniature paintings, tote bags / other accessories and his service in commissions.
Find out more:
What does your average working day look like?
My day usually starts at six / seven o’clock. I get up, shower and get myself in to the studio with good intentions in mind. The first thing I always do when I’m there is turn the radio on. I spend about an hour or so doing administrative duties before getting stuck into slapping paint across the canvas and creating some art.
What inspires you to create?
Imagery. I like strong imagery; it helps make things really pop out on the canvas and make people go: “Wow.” When it’s not so bold, I get soft and will do something mushy, washy and misty. I’ve always painted, ever since I can remember; it’s the only thing I did really well.
What do you like about working at Colonnade House?
I’ve never worked in a place with so many studios and groups of different people doing different things. I think the collaboration between all of the people here is great; everyone is willing to help each other out despite doing very diverse things. The fact that it’s situated in the centre of town and has its own galleries makes the whole place an ideal spot for a young budding artist.
What equipment could you not do without?
Paintbrushes, paint, canvases, a good work surface and light. The lighting system here at Colonnade is excellent, providing enough light for me to see what I’m doing. Being somewhat blind as a bat makes me struggle without it.
Can you tell us a bit about any upcoming projects?
I have two shows booked for next year, the first one called ‘Icons’. My project from now until next Spring is to produce a new body of work based on famous people. As my strength is portraiture, I’m using that as a basis for this particular project. I’m quite excited about it.
What piece of advice helped you on your creative journey?
It was from my dad, saying: “Go and get yourself a job.” Obviously being a teenager, I didn’t want to get a job, so I snuck away to go to Worthing Art College, believe it or not. It was called West Sussex College of Art back then, many years ago, and I sort of just followed a route through from there on and fell into painting.
Why did you want to exhibit your latest collection: “The Little Red Boat” with us?
The Little Red Boat is an idea I fell on; I created the character one evening when I was just drawing ideas and other things down in my sketchbook. I’ve now done over 60 sketches of him in various locations, all of which are at different progress points. The little studio gallery was the perfect size for me to show the amount of work that I’ve completed so far, hoping to be able to finish and exhibit them all in the main gallery in the future.
